Physical Features of India — Question 3

(i) The Indian Desert — The Indian desert lies towards the western margins of the Aravali Hills. It is an undulating sandy plain covered with sand dunes. This region receives less than 150 mm rainfall per year. It has arid climate with low vegetation cover. Streams appear during the rainy season and then disappear. Luni is the only large river in this region. Crescent-shaped dunes or Barchans are common here but longitudinal dunes become more prominent near the Indo-Pakistan boundary.

(ii) The Central Highlands — The Central Highlands is one of the two parts of the Peninsular plateau. The Central Highlands is the part lying to the north of the Narmada river, covering a major area of the Malwa plateau. It is bounded by the Vindhyan range and the Satpura range on the south and the Aravalis on the northwest. The further westward extension gradually merges with the sandy and rocky desert of Rajasthan. The flow of the rivers draining this region, namely the Chambal, the Sind, the Betwa and the Ken is from southwest to northeast, thus indicating the slope. The Central Highlands are wider in the west but narrower in the east. The eastern extensions of Central Highlands are called Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand, while the Chotanagpur plateau extends further east and is drained by the Damodar river.

(iii) The Island groups of India — India has two groups of islands — the Lakshadweep islands group and the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

1. The Lakshadweep Islands Group — They are located in the Arabian sea close to the Malabar coast of Kerala. This group of islands is composed of small coral islands. It covers small area of 32 sq.km. Kavaratti island is the administrative headquarters of Lakshadweep. It has great diversity of flora and fauna. The Pitti island, which is uninhabited, has a bird sanctuary.
2. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands Group — It consists of an elongated chain of islands located in the Bay of Bengal extending from north to south. They are bigger in size and are more numerous and scattered. The entire group of islands is divided into two broad categories — the Andaman in the north and the Nicobar in the south. It is believed that these islands are an elevated portion of submarine mountains. They are rich in flora and fauna. They experience equatorial climate due to their location near equator and have thick forest cover.